The Audubon ($275.00 Purse)
CD- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
May 30, 2026

The Audubon may be an ungraded stake, but it offers a nice $275.00 purse to be split amongst its top finishers as it sends a field of six three year olds a total of nine furlongs around the turf course. This is the seventh time that the race has been held, and it has seen a gradual increase in prize monies, something that was as low as $100.00 at one time. In 2025, Team 7 Illusions was the winning trainer as Royal Devil won by a length. That gelding, a former KYD participant, is still active, but has not run since a lackluster effort in November. Here’s a look at this year’s field!

1- Izzys Brindle (The Sidley Stud, ridden by M Franco)- It will be the turf debut for Izzys Brindle, and judging by his most recent work, he should be perfectly fine on the surface. This is a horse that regularly ran in ungraded stakes as a two year old, and The Sidley Stud tried the KYD trail with him in the Grade 3 Withers. That did not go well, and after a couple of months, he would be gelded. When he finally returned to the track he was third in the slop at TAM in an allowance. He is appealing in here, since he has shown he can handle stake competition, and his turf works suggest he may respond very favorably to this move.

2- Phantom Thunder (Ajm Stables, ridden by J Lezcano)- As a two year old, Phantom Thunder ran in some of the top turf races that are available, culminating in none other than the BC Juvenile Turf. A respectable mid-pack finish there was something to build on, but his former trainer instead took that as being the time to sell, and soon after Phantom Thunder made his way to Ajm Stables for $125.00. He has not done much since then, but the weather has certainly not helped as three of his four races as a three year old have been on off tracks, with two on soft going. It’s very probable that he’ll get a chance to show his skill on firm turf here.

3- Endless Stir (Mb Stables, ridden by A Fresu)- A lightly raced horse that will be making just his fifth career start here. After breaking his maiden at GP in late March, the trainer was very impressed and thrust him into the Wood Memorial just two weeks later in a KYD hail mary. The horse ran respectably in the middle of the field given the short rest and would later run here on the grass where he won by a length. With so many giants in his stable, you never know when he’s about to release the next one, but Endless Stir looks very promising as a name we’ll hear more often.

4- No Prince (Mb Stables, ridden by P Lopez)- Performed very well as a two year old, never falling out of the exacta in five starts. While he did not win either of the stakes he attempted, he barely missed in the $200.00 Logan Stakes. Instead of sticking with him, his prior trainer immediately sold him. No Prince has been consistent with Mb Stables as well, hitting the board a few more times, but has not seen the winner’s circle in his new barn. Last time out, in the Grade 1 American Turf, he ran a bad race for the first time but perhaps a Grade 1 was a little much for him at that point.

5- Immersion (Fractious, ridden by D E Centeno)- Fractious is back! Unless the trainer starts another horse between press time and race time, this will be his first start of 2026. Welcome back! Immersion is a horse that has been in his barn, and last appeared in a race last November when he was fourth in the Grade 3 DeMille Stakes at DMR. Prior to that, Immersion ran in a pair of Grade 1’s, but did not beat any of the horses he was up against in both of them. Both the horse and the trainer should overcome their layoff just fine.

6- Gaelic Commander (High Voltage, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Our final horse to load in the gate is likely the one that will have a target on his back. After all, Gaelic Commander has won over $1,500.00 for his career, which is more than double the rest of the field, combined. A big win in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint is a big portion of those earnings, but Gaelic Commander’s success has continued into his three year old season. The gelding has won twice in his four starts this year, including the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes at KEE at the start of April. Afterward, he was a good looking third here in the Grade 1 American Turf, an effort that would win this if duplicated.

Prediction: 6-1-3-5

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded